NEW YORK  Everyone knows that the national transition to digital broadcast television will promote sexy new technologies including high-definition TV (HDTV).

But few could have imagined that it might also revive some of the creakiest movies and series ever committed to celluloid, including The Lone Ranger, McHale's Navy and The Addams Family.

Vintage reruns and other inexpensive shows are in vogue, though, as stations and programmers rush into a potentially important new business: multicast networks.

Executives at services such as MGM's This TV, Retro Television Network (RTN), VTV: The Variety Channel, .2 Network, NBC's Universal Sports and the Local AccuWeather Channel say that they can change the TV habits of millions of viewers — especially after Feb. 17, the federal deadline for stations to stop broadcasting analog signals and just offer digital.

"We're betting that it's a huge opportunity," says Howard Bolter, president of LATV, a bilingual entertainment service that targets young Latino viewers.

Multicast services piggyback on digital signals from local stations, including those offering HDTV versions of ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS. Most stations also have room in the airwave spectrum the government has allocated to transmit two standard-definition channels. That could mean up to a dozen stations for a moderate-size market.

Programmers say that their ventures will appeal to people who already feel overrun with TV options. "We're hitting the mother lode," says RTN Executive Vice President Mark Dvornik. "A lot of cable networks have drifted to first-run and reality shows. But there's an audience that wants classic shows."

Most should reach everyone in a community — not just cable and satellite subscribers. And local broadcasters have a strong incentive to promote them on their popular newscasts as well as syndicated and major network shows.

Stations typically get the multicast programming for free and sell five minutes an hour of ad time. The networks sell an additional five minutes to national advertisers.

Multicast network programmers say that they could have a big advantage over national cable channels if stations add their own shows to the mix.

"The future of digital multicast channels is to stay local," says Ken Reiner, vice president of programming for Newport Television, the backer of VTV, whose fare includes home and garden shows as well as chestnuts such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and I Married Joan.

"Many stations with major network agreements have limitations on their ability to present local programming," Reiner says. The multicast "channels can become a social network in a community."

Weather could be a big draw

NBC and AccuWeather are counting on local weather to be a big draw. "The challenge stations have is to find content that will attract viewers, and one of the most obvious places to look is at content that's worked on their flagship stations," says Lee Rainey, vice president of marketing at AccuWeather.

Because multicast channels use the public airwaves, they must comply with Federal Communications Commission rules for broadcasters, including the requirements to offer closed captioning, kid-friendly shows and community service.

And because the networks will have few viewers initially, it may take awhile before ad sales cover even their low programming costs. That may force stations to reach out to small businesses, such as waterbed stores or kung fu trainers.

"We've out-priced those people," says MGM's John Bryan, who's overseeing This TV — a service that will feature the studio's 4,100 films and 10,000 hours of TV shows. "If you think about the (ad) inventory that can get moved that way, stations could see an 8% to 10% bump to their bottom line."

That's a key argument for programmers: Station owners also are weighing opportunities to use their extra airwave capacity for business data or to broadcast TV shows to cellphones.

Multicast network executives say that they aren't worried. Stations could have room for several additional channels and services as engineers find new ways to compress digital bits.

"It's a long-range business," Bolter says. "These channels require a financial and an emotional commitment. And people need to get those (digital) TVs. When they do, they'll be surprised at how much is out there already."

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